The Alyona Show: Who is Julian Assange?

Published time: 26 Jul, 2010 17:00 Edited time: 27 Jul, 2010 19:55

In April, Alyona interviewed Julian Assange after the release of the Collateral Murder video. Today, Assange is on the front page of every paper, being discussed on every news channel thanks to a leak of more than 90,000 internal military documents relating to the war in Afghanistan. RT Producer Lucy Kafanov joins Alyona to look at the rise of WikiLeaks.

Are whistleblowers are a friend or foe to the people? Wikileaks has sparked a debate over the role of journalists, their responsibilities, and their intentions in bringing journalism into a new playing field. Was the release right or wrong? Joining Alyona is Christopher Chambers, Georgetown University professor and author of the blog Nat Turners Revenge. Alyona hasn’t been able to find too much that shocks her yet in the documents. So does this really put national security at risk or could it force honest discourse on the war?

The White House predicts the federal budget deficit, which hit a record $1.4 trillion dollars last year, will exceed that figure this year and next. This means the government will be forced to borrow 41 cents of every dollar that it spends. Alyona asks RT Correspondent Lauren Lyster if President Obama and Congress will be willing to cut where Americans spend the most. Lyster explains why cutting deficit in the short term isn’t a good idea and why defense spending needs to see cuts.

Then, has affirmative action turned into a form of discrimination against all whites? Are poor Americans falling behind? Alyona is joined by Jared Taylor the editor of American Renaissance and Adam Lerman, an organizer for affirmative action group By Any Means Necessary. They debate what race is worse off in this recession and who’s to blame, if anyone and how to measure equality.

And, New York Congressman Charles Rangel is going to be tried for a number of ethics violations. When he was asked why he isn't stepping down he said, "It wouldn't be the American thing to do." Alyona takes on Rangel for not stepping down and says how things like honor, and responsibility, don't exist within the vocabulary of American politicians.

Finally, Ieshuh Griffin, an independent candidate for the Wisconsin state assembly describes herself as "Not the White Man's Bitch" and has been banned by the state from using that as her campaign slogan on the ballot. Alyona asks, is that statement racially charged or offensive? And Alyona talks to Griffin, who describes herself as not the average politicians. She explains that she’s referring to "the" white man, not "a" white man.